Chickens run afoul of West Brandywine neighbors

WEST BRANDYWINE—Monacy Road neighbors battled to a draw about the number of chickens allowed by township ordinance at Thursday’s board of supervisors meeting.

Following a sometimes heated discussion, supervisors decided to reexamine and then tabled a proposed ordinance which would have allowed up to 24 pets in some non-agricultural areas.

Township law currently allows up to six “pets” in residential areas, with chickens considered by the township as pets.

Next door neighbors Natasha Kearns, and Richard and Kathleen Orth, sat 20 feet away from each other-- at opposite ends of a row in council chambers-- but their mindsets were much further apart.

Advertisement

The Orth’s complained of cackling from what are now four chickens at the Kearn’s 2-acre property. The Kearns own two dogs.

Richard Orth said the Kearns had constructed the “Taj Mahal” of chicken coops, with the racket from what was once the cackling of more than a dozen birds creating a noise disturbance. Kearns said that when she learned from the township about the six pet limit she cut the number of chickens back.

“On numerous occasions, we couldn’t hear each other on the back deck unless we were yelling,” said Richard Orth. “(A chicken coop) is not a pleasurable sight but we understand it is private property.”

Her family raises chickens for eggs and her children’s 4-H projects, said Kearns. She also said the birds do not make noise when typically restricted to the coop from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“I didn’t choose to live in a subdivision or development,” said Kearns. “This is country.Chickensusually only cackle when they lay an egg or are in danger. We have no rooster, that can be very annoying.”

Supervisor Tom McCaffrey supported increasing the number of chickens allowed by the township, but in the end moved to table. He wondered how many residents were affected.

“There are so many laws,” McCaffrey said. “We can’t write regulations to satisfy everyone. I would hate to write an ordinance for 3,000 households.”

Supervisor William Webb was opposed to increasing the number of chickens permitted in residential areas.

“I don’t like the fact that we put additional restrictions on folks,” Webb said. “But that could create more problems. We shouldn’t allow chickens in residential areas. The houses are too close.”

Chairman Josef Obernier Sr. said he had heard from many of the township’s chicken owners.

“There’s nothing we can do that will make everybody happy,” Obernier said.

Webb said government was designed primarily to protect the life, health and safety of residents.

“And this ordinance does not do that,” he said.

The proposed ordinance forbids roosters, requires leg banding for identification and requires a 100-foot buffer between chicken coops and a neighbor’s structures.